to think it's fine to look in molehills?

[CollieFIower]

Took the DC and dogs for a walk today across some fields that are part of a known Roman site. The fields are open access, not ploughed etc, and well used by dog walkers. Occasionally grazed by sheep but no sheep there today.

There were molehills everywhere and the DC were knocking them over to see if they could find any Roman pottery etc in the soil. Just with their bare hands, no digging, no tools etc. It's all been excavated in the past (in fact, by Time Team once!) so anything special has presumably long since been discovered.

Another walker came along and said we shouldn't be doing that without permission and that the DC had to put back anything they'd found.

Obviously I'd have reported anything amazing to the right people, like coins etc, but the DC were very excited by their pottery fragments and a bit gutted to be told off. We often look in molehills when out walking and I never knew that wasn't something everyone agreed was ok!

So... WIBU to ignore this and carry on molehill poking? Or is it Not On?

Hopefully nosey ddog walker will trip on a molehill! What a killjoy!

On private land the contents of the molehill do belong to the owner of the land so yes it's technically wrong.

However I do it too - never found anything interesting though!

I wouldn't disturb molehills full stop tbh, moles aren't always far from them and should be left in peace. Children should be discouraged from disturbing them.

Some people just love to be a buzzkill, I wouldn’t stop on account of someone who feels they’re the Molehill Police. I once took my stepdaughter to the local field and she was scolded for climbing a tree (and me shamed for allowing her to do so), best thing to do is laugh it off. Did upset my DSD but we have climbed many a tree since and some people just like to moan. X

Idk about molehills but it’s true that some people get off on being a buzzkill. I’ll never forget building a big sandcastle as a child and someone going past stopping to tell me off because someone might fall over it. A sandcastle on the beach!

There were literally hundreds of them... I always get the DC to shovel up the molehills in our garden as it's lovely topsoil that I can use for potting plants etc, and just makes a mess of the lawn if not removed. They probably got the molehill treasure seeker bug from finding some of their own long lost Lego on our lawn tbh 🤣 Should we not be doing that either?

As it was just a random busybody, I'd probably ignore them. If the landowner asked, of course you'd stop, but it's really none of this person's concern. They're enjoying playing the authority figure.

We were given a tour of a Roman site by a County archaeologist a few years ago. They said they were only really bothered about metal finds being reported, pottery and building materials are really common. They have boxes and boxes of the stuff.

If it's grazed then you're doing the farmer a favour by levelling molehills. If you do find long lost gold though, be sure to buy the mole half a Guiness 😁

Reminds me of the time as a child I got told off at a swimming pool by someone sitting at the side for jumping in and getting her wet. Why she was sitting so close fully dressed I have no idea 🤷🏻‍♀️
I took it to heart though and sat on the side for ages, feeling too guilty to get back in.

This was pretty much my impression. Maybe if it wasn't already known to be a site of interest but this place has been excavated very comprehensively already.

Urrgghh what a meanybug! I feel sad for the child-you.

They’re obviously making a mountain out of a molehill. As you were

@CollieFIower ignore them. There's nothing wrong with looking through the soil & taking bits of kiddy 'treasure' (pottery etc)

I suppose they didn't know you'd behave decently about any actual treasure. Pieces of interest.

as long as the kids aren't making the moleholes crumble & cave in, they're fine.

they need to extra careful in the Autumn when the babies are about.

Someone launched an verbal attach on my friend on a dogwalk because the dog was a pedigree so uninvited got told off for buying a dog from a puppy farm. She upset my friend and I really thought what a sad sack of shite you need to be to seek people to verbally abuse over a non issue. She was just standing on a footpath croosraods waiting to be rude i think. If I ever have my eldest teen with me he gives back such cutting comments that hopefully they enjoy there own medicine. He said something when he 15 that I was like 'wow, that was top trump insult comeback', without being aggressive or swearing the bitter twat was left with their mouth hanging open. Hopefully they get some karma and run into another version of him

Can you clarify what you mean by 'open access fields'?

Open access doesn't usually apply to enclosed fields.

If you mean a field with a public right of way through then you should remain on the public right of way at all times regardless of whether the field is ploughed or does / doesn't have sheep in.

Grass is a crop - at this time of year its a precious crop that if there aren't sheep in the field now will most likely mean the farmer is allowing the field to 'freshen up' to put sheep and lambs onto soon. Every time some one comes off the footpath and trampled it it does harm.

If it is a farmers field dogs absolutely should not be running round in it off the right of way, again regardless of if there is any sheep in it.

Plus if it was my field with lots of mole hills in then there is a good chance I will have some mole traps in there somewhere....

If you come across a mole hill on the right of way I would have no issue with you flattening it as you made normal progress past.

If its a park and not a farmers field then presumably its up to whoever owns the park?

We’ve been to several sites like this in the North Pennines (might even be the same one). I’m sure there were signs requesting no Molehill Archaeology be done. At another one there were no such signs, but that one is privately owned and not English Heritage or National Trust like the others.
No fields were trampled though. You can walk among the excavations all you like,

Archaeologist here. Crack on. Unless you find an intact piece, a few pot shards aren't useful or valuable to anyone so you might as well enjoy them. If you knew how many "finds" languish in boxes at museums you wouldn't worry.

(if they've been disturbed by moles they're already out of context and basically useless for understanding the site)

There's a site near us where we found lots of Bronze Age and Roman pottery. Last year one part of it became protected by a new law which meant we were no longer able to take anything at all from that area, but the rest of the site was ok (as long as it wasn't 'treasure'. We are not allowed to metal detect, but we have found kilos of pottery, and we were able to give a piece to each of DS's classmates when they were studying the Bronze Age.
Just check the rules for your area. If you are not sure, ask at your local museum, they are usually very helpful.

As far as I understand, it's owned privately but open access in that there's a footpath running through it but there's also humps and bumps in the grass and an couple of info boards telling you what the humps and bumps mean - with the assumption being that you'll wander round and look at them, not just stay on the footpath, so I wouldn't imagine there's traps set. I know it's protected and can't be ploughed or built on, but I've seen sheep grazing in there in the past. It's not a very big field so you can easily tell if there's sheep or not as you enter.

Oh interesting! It's not North Pennines though and there's no signs to that effect.

www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/apr/23/moles-roman-remains-epiacum-english-heritage-vindolanda

This is interesting - one of the sites we visit- article quite old now, but the landowner mentions EH having to be in attendance to make it legal for the molehills to be sifted.

Oh interesting! It's not North Pennines though and there's no signs to that effect.

I can’t remember whether it was Epiacum, Housesteads or Birdoswald that had the sign about molehill archaeology. DH found a piece of iron he reckoned was a Roman nail when he <ahem> tripped over a molehill at a site that had no signs forbidding it.

My dog loves a good snuffle at a molehill. She really has a thing about them. A very dead one was the first dead thing she every rolled in at the age of 4! I do discourage her from digging at them though as I can picture a poor mole just below about to get found